2 uses
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Definition
start or set into motion — typically some kind of conflict
- The young people, at the countess' instigation, gathered round the clavichord and harp.Book One — 1805 (58% in)
- At that very time, in circumstances even more important than retreating without a battle, namely the evacuation and burning of Moscow, Rostopchin, who is usually represented as being the instigator of that event, acted in an altogether different manner from Kutuzov.Book Eleven — 1812 (10% in)
There are no more uses of "instigate" in War and Peace.
Typical Usage
(best examples)